Mid-Atlantic Region- please raise your hand if

[just.wing.it]

....you keep any of your trees out on the benches, all winter, with no protection, and no problems.
I have been toying with the idea of leaving more trees right where they are all winter long....
So far I've only done it with my one spruce tree, which does fine, no protection needed. I'm considering some of my tauxs, junipers, mugos...

Also, would you be more likely to give a tree winter protection if it is in a plastic nursery container, compared to a bonsai pot, or a heavy clay or ceramic flower pot, and would the depth of the pot play a role in your determination?

The thing I always see people saying is, snow insulation is as good as mulching them on the ground....but we don't get consistent snowfall here, in the Mid-Atlantic....in MD anyway, we almost never get that light fluffy snow, that insulates your pot nicely and doesn't break your branches....
We get ice storms...lots of freezing rain and cold nights, well below freezing, that turn everything into a thick sheet of ice....this concerns me a bit, as far as leaving my trees on the bench.
The snow we do get is usually very wet and heavy....

Just curious....I know some of you are out there....
And you don't have to be from the Mid Atlantic to chime in!

 

[M. Frary]

but we don't get consistent snowfall here,

That's my worry here too.

I'm not sure how things would turn out for me if I didn't get snow. I really count on it and breathe much easier when the trees disappear under it.
I did leave a tamarack and an American elm out on the bench 2 years ago just to see. They couldn't make it. So even the most cold hardy trees here need protection if potted.
I would put my trees right next to the house on the north side. Mulch them in and pray.
Or maybe build a cold house if you can afford it and have the room.

 

[just.wing.it]

That's my worry here too.

I'm not sure how things would turn out for me if I didn't get snow. I really count on it and breathe much easier when the trees disappear under it.
I did leave a tamarack and an American elm out on the bench 2 years ago just to see. They couldn't make it. So even the most cold hardy trees here need protection if potted.
I would put my trees right next to the house on the north side. Mulch them in and pray.
Or maybe build a cold house if you can afford it and have the room.

Lol!
Yeah, that's what I usually do with them, and that north side is also underneath by back deck, so they have some protection from the ice down there...but yeah I have a trench dug along the side with rocks in the bottom. I just line em up and shovel in the mulch.
Never had a problem down there, except for a rabbit ate a branch once....but it's a good spot.
I also put my deciduous trees and azaleas in my attached garage, it stays just cold enough in there.

 

[M. Frary]

Overwintering bonsai is or was a hard thing to learn.
We coddle our trees for half the year or more and then they get left to their own devices for the rest. Very nerve wracking. You never know what's going to happen when spring rolls around.
And the thing is we all have different climates so there is no single way to keep trees through the winter safely.
Unless you can have a winter room like Judy B has.
I think fourteener or crust has one too. One of those guys.

 

[Bob Hunter]

7a- 10' x 10' portable greenhouse out of the wind for Azlalea, junipers, oak and Maples. Grafted white pines I keep in the greenhouse but bring them into the non heated garage under 15 deg. to be on the safe side.

 

[JudyB]

Lol!
Yeah, that's what I usually do with them, and that north side is also underneath by back deck, so they have some protection from the ice down there...but yeah I have a trench dug along the side with rocks in the bottom. I just line em up and shovel in the mulch.
Never had a problem down there, except for a rabbit ate a branch once....but it's a good spot.
I also put my deciduous trees and azaleas in my attached garage, it stays just cold enough in there.

If this worked for you in the past, why would you even think about changing your procedure? Winter is no time to get lazy about trees, and leave them to the ever changing climates that we find happening these days. You might get lucky, but you might loose something. Not an option!

 

[just.wing.it]

If this worked for you in the past, why would you even think about changing your procedure? Winter is no time to get lazy about trees, and leave them to the ever changing climates that we find happening these days. You might get lucky, but you might loose something. Not an option!

Yeah. I know... it would just be nice to see a few out there... that's all.

 

[MACH5]

I leave blue spruce, thuja, fir, Scots pine and RMJ out all winter with no protection. RMJs however are placed under a porch to keep them as dry as possible specially when spring approaches and snow becomes rain. Once in a while I throw snow on them when available.

I do bring my most valuable conifers inside if we get incredibly frigid temperatures (single digits and below) for prolonged periods of time just to be on the safe side.

EDIT: I do place them low next to a wall to keep them out of desiccating winds.

 

[Velodog2]

I keep all conifers and evergreens on the ground in a corner shielded from the wind by the house foundation and plywood I put up. Most deciduous go in an outdoor basement stairwell insulated w 1" styrofoam.

I generally have good luck, but the operative word is luck. I certainly don't know all the winter failure modes possible, but I know it's a probability game.

Our winters here in Maryland are highly variable, both within a year, and from year to year, and regardless of what you may "believe", they will become more so. So the variables include low temps, low temp duration, temp variation, wind speed, precipitation amounts and whether it is rain or snow, snow cover, and the condition of the trees you are storing, plus more. All these interact and combine in various ways to present many challenges to the trees.

Anyway, my point is why push it? You may get away with no protection 9 years out of 10, but then you just lost 10 years work.

My biggest problem last year was overprotecting the deciduous in the stairwell and having them bud out in February. I plan to skip the insulation this year. I monitor the temp there remotely and can open the door to the basement if worse comes to worst and it begins to get too cold.

 

[jriddell88]

I'm too big of a whimp to leave em out

They all go in cold frame hahaha

 

[sorce]

February

My shit wasn't protected at all and they budded in February.

Think Many folks' did.

My Amurs died...elm lived.

I've never had a problem with leaving stuff right out in it.

But this budding early thing may become problematic.

I am not so concerned with trying to keep them cold, after all, I want them to grow.

A safe cold greenhouse, if they do bud out, would be nice to have....
But only for those that bud out early to get moved to.

Sorce

 

[MACH5]

My shit wasn't protected at all and they budded in February.

Think Many folks' did.

My Amurs died...elm lived.

I've never had a problem with leaving stuff right out in it.

But this budding early thing may become problematic.

I am not so concerned with trying to keep them cold, after all, I want them to grow.

A safe cold greenhouse, if they do bud out, would be nice to have....
But only for those that bud out early to get moved to.

Sorce

Sorce, I am surprised that your amur maples died. They are native to Siberia so enough said! That's the only deciduous I would have complete confidence leaving out in winter with no protection. I'd be more worried about the pot than the tree itself. There maybe something else going on than not protecting them?

 

[rockm]

I have left my Amur maples out on the bench all winter for the last ten years. It hasn't had a problem. If I put it under mulch it breaks leaves in February. I've also left my Ponderosa pine out all winter for the last seven years. It handled the worst winters we've had with no problem.

I put every thing else under a foot of mulch in either a sheltered spot in the backyard or in the two foot deep cold pit with a shade over it. That's worked very well for the last 20 years or so for cedar elm, bald cypress, tridents, Japanese maples, Chinese elms, beech, hornbeam (Korean and Carolina), black haw, wisteria, some azaleas (depending on variety), boxwood, and more than a few others.

I would NOT chance leaving any of that stuff out unprotected. The weather in the winter here in the Middle Atlantic can whipsaw from warm to frigid in a matter of days, or even hours. That can mean the same for exposed roots on bonsai. Not a good thing. Mulch moderates those swings and extremes.

Overprotection can be a bad thing, but so can underprotection.

 

[sorce]

I did mess with most and put em in the ground.

The other got that Orange leakage.

They were surely weakened by the fake spring, never really recovered.

Sorce